Automatic (Healthy) Eating // Tip 2

Fact: Healthy eating can feel like a lot of hard work. (If you're catching up, check out tip #1: stocking up on frozen veggies.) When I have my best success with eating lots of the "right" stuff, it's when I'm not trying to follow any fussy recipes. Instead, I get fresh, unprocessed ingredients and make things like salads or warm veggie bowls. Simplicity with cooking seems to work really well with simple, whole foods.

As a vegetarian, you might be surprised to learn that I sort of hate salad. Well, that's not entirely true, but it takes a LOT for me to enjoy munching on greens. With a little finesse, though, greens become my best weapon in the war against eating entire batches of Peanut Butter Blossoms.

// TIP 2: Buy Greens + Use Them

Greens are versatile, though. There's spinach, kale, collards, romaine, swiss chard, and the list goes on. By tossing in a handful of greens to your meals, you add lots of nutrition, including fiber, vitamins, minerals, and various phytochemicals that are great for your health. And salads don't have to be cold and crunchy, necessarily.

Consider these uses of greens:

• Toss into Green Smoothies
• Crisp into Kale Chips
• Chop into Garlic Rolls
• Top some Spinach Toast + Eggs
• Fill a Veggie Stromboli
• Pulverize into Leafy Green Pancakes
• Throw into Miso Soup
• Cook into Warm Salad Bowls
• Add green to Spinach Hummus
• Blend into Swiss Chard Pesto or Spinach Pesto
• Improve on Hummus Melts
• Add to (Mayo-Less) Egg Salad
• Bake into Spinach Mac 'n Cheese
• Mix in with Spinach Pasta
• Inject into Spinach Black Bean Burgers

If you're still hesitant to stock your refrigerator with this leafy stuff, start with baby greens like baby spinach or baby kale. The stems are what get me a lot of the time, and on the tiny versions, they're just not an issue.

The warm salad in the photo above is:

2 handfuls baby kale + fried tofu + 1/2 avocado, sliced + rehydrated seaweed w/ 1 tablespoon sesame oil + sesame seeds + ginger juice + soy sauce


I also shy from buying greens sometimes because I feel like they go limp before I get a chance to use them. The first defense is just using them up quickly -- adding them to most every meal. But if that's no possible and they tend to get slimy?

Here are some ways to keep 'em fresh:

• Roll into paper towels + store in zip lock bags via Marin Mama Cooks
• Snip, rinse, and dry well via Chocolate and Zucchini
• Roll into a clean bath towel (really!) via The Kitchn
• Keep air flowing around them via Organic Gardening

How do you use greens? Bonus points if you just love a plain salad!

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Dinner on the Cheap

We're not experts with the whole budget grocery shopping thing. But we're slowly finding our way and making the most of the ingredients we buy. Take this meal, for example. It fully satisfied my pregnant tummy and cost nearly nothing to make!

BUDGET BREAKDOWN:

• 2 baked potatoes: 90 cents
• Half a bag of collards: $1
• 2 corn cobs: 50 cents
• 1 container of Greek yogurt: $1 (on sale)
• Chives: Free -- from our garden

That's a grand total of $1.70 per person. If each meal cost only this much, we'd be well under our $50 goal each week. However, we realize that's a bit unrealistic (and we'd get bored of eating potatoes alone pretty quickly!).

TRUTH TIME: From our weekend fund, as it was Sunday, after all, Stephen supplemented his meal with some shrimp ($7) marinated for an hour in home-brewed beer and tossed with lemon juice, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper. Like I said, though. Even without the shrimp, this plate of food filled me and baby up.

And it was oh-so good . . .


The BEST part was the baked potato. So much, in fact, that I just have to share our favorite way to bake them. The skin is crisp, but not too crisp. Salty, but not too salty. The center is soft, but not too mushy. I'm sure you get the idea.

BAKED POTATO PERFECTION:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grab a long sheet of tin foil and fold over once or twice.
• Rinse and scrub potatoes. Dry well. Then prick all over -- deeply 6 to 8 times with the tines of a fork.
• Place potatoes on tin foil and rub with 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil each. Then sprinkle on some coarse kosher salt -- roll to get it well distributed.
• Place foil/potatoes (note that you DO NOT cover the potatoes with foil, you merely use it as a sheet underneath them) in the center rack of your oven for 1 hour.
• Flip potatoes halfway through cooking and remove from oven to cool for a few minutes before serving. The salted skin = incredible.

CHIVED GREEK YOGURT:

• 1 small container (6 ounces) plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives -- chopped finely
• 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• Just mix 'em up and serve on the side!

And don't forget the corn! Our prepared it by boiling in a large stock pot on the stove until the yellow color really pops. There's not true right or wrong way to do it, as we haven't screwed it up yet, but we also like to let it sit in the water as it cools for 5 minutes, so it gets extra tender.

What are some of your favorite meals created on a dime? I feel like it's much easier in the summer to eat on the cheap because I crave more simple foods. A little salt and lemon juice goes a long way, too.


Be sure to check out (never home)maker, baby! today for some preliminary details on our nursery design. We've got a long way to go . . . but we've been inspired!

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Baked Flatbread with Sweet Onions, Collards, and Brie

In our home, it always feels like a pizza or garlic knots night. Especially recently. But I'm growing tired with our usual recipes. I also want to add more veggies to the mix (since cheese pizza is my go-to favorite). The temps were too hot for my run last night, so I decided to get a workout in the kitchen creating a new recipe.

As you'll see in just a moment, the recipe is long. I suggest you read it over once to see how easy these steps are once you get started. If you like to prepare ahead, a great way to approach this meal might be making batches of dough ahead of time, freezing them, then preparing the toppings fresh the day of.

Stephen and I loved the crispy crust and light toppings. We ate the entire thing, but didn't feel overly full -- leaving room for dessert.


FLATBREAD DOUGH

What you'll need . . .

• 1-1/3 cups unbleached bread flour
• 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon dry active yeast
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup warm (wrist-temperature) water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• More flour for kneading

Method . . .

1. In a small bowl, pour your water and mix in the yeast. Let sit to 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours and salt.
3. Pour the olive oil into the yeast mixture. Stir. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix (a spatula works well, then transition over to your hands to a kneading).
4. Use extra flour in your bowl to get your dough from sticky to a nice, elastic ball.
5. Then cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.

TOPPINGS

What you'll need . . .

• 1 medium to large white onion
• Bunch of collard greens, chopped
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• Fresh or canned (drained/rinsed) tomatoes
• 1 wheel brie
• Fresh herbs (we used dill, basil, thyme, and sage)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

Method . . .

1. In a medium pan, pour in a bit of olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and cook until glassy. Then add the collard greens (they will cook down), brown sugar, and water. Cook until onions are browned. Then set aside.
2. Slice your tomatoes. If you're using canned, squeeze out as much extra moisture as possible so your dough won't get soggy when you bake.
3. Slice brie into small pieces. We always take off the rind. (And YES! Pregnant women can eat Brie. We used President, which is pasteurized.)

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

1. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F. Place a pizza stone on the center oven rack. A metal sheet should work, too. You may want to lower the oven temp to 475 degrees F, in that event.
2. Divide dough into two balls. Bag and freeze one for a rainy day. On a lightly floured work surface, stretch out the other one until it is thin and about 18 inches in diameter (about the diameter of the pizza stone).
3. When the oven is preheated, put the dough in and bake on one side for 3 to 5 minutes. You will see the dough bubble up.
4. Remove the crust from the oven and flip it over. Drizzle your 2 tablespoons of olive oil onto it. Then distribute the onion/collard mixture, the tomatoes, the brie, and finish with the herbs. We also added a pinch of salt at the last minute.
5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes -- until brie is bubbly and browned. Then finish with a quick broil -- 1 to 2 minutes, depending on how crisp you'd like it.
6. Then cut and serve.

You'll be fighting to get your fill . . . up until the very last piece.


So, that's what I like to do on nights when I don't run (and actually have time/energy mid-week to cook!). I woke up at 5:40 to try and get a morning jog in . . . only to be greeted by thunder and lightning. Here's hoping my luck will improve tonight . . .

But the extra time did give me a chance to finally record our 16 (and 17) week pregnancy vlog. We'll post it on (never home)maker, baby! once it uploads. For now, you can read the rest on today's 17-week update post.

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